Information
Schloss Oranienbaum was commissioned by Princess Henriette Catharina in 1682. Henriette Catharina was one of the four daughters of the Dutch stadtholder Frederik Hendrik of Orange-Nassau and his wife Amalia van Solms, and was married to Johann Georg II, prince of Anhalt-Dessau. After her death in 1708 she bequeathed all movable art to her daughters in accordance with Orange inheritance law. Therefore, only a few pieces of the original richly decorated interior of the Schloss have survived. Nevertheless, some of the Orange portraits remained in Anhalt and they represent the Orange heritage of the museum since its reopening in 2003. Among these is a portrait of her sister Albertine Agnes of Nassau, duchess of Nassau-Dietz, in a flower wreath by Abraham de Lust and Jan Mijtens. From the same workshop is also the portrait of Maria of Simmern. Furthermore the collection includes a portrait of her other sister, Louise Henriette, electress of Brandenburg by an unknown Dutch painter, the youth portrait of Henriette Catharina by Jan Mijtens as well as portraits of her parents by Michiel van Mierevelt, and Amalia van Solms as Diana by Gerard van Honthorst.
Dr. Wolfgang Savelsberg, Head of the Department of Palaces (May 2020)
Schloss Oranienbaum is a part of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm, which is administered by the Dessau-Wörlitz Cultural Foundation.